


Vincent Valentine : Turk

by bmlhillenkeene



Series: Children [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Domestic Abuse mentioned, F/M, Kid!Cid Highwind, Turk!Vincent Valentine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:38:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7966378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmlhillenkeene/pseuds/bmlhillenkeene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vincent Valentine, pre-game, freshly betrayed, he swears off love, only to find his life turned upside down when he aids a woman and her son. Valentine/Highwind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bird in a Cage

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, first things first, don't be mad at me, yes, I messed up the history of Vincent, but this idea bounced in my head so much since I played the game that it needed to be written, and I think it just night work. Give my OC a chance (I can't believe I just said that! Oh dear God what am I thinking!), anyway, this is going to end up a love story with a significant difference, which will become clear in time. I'm hoping it won't be longer than five or six chapters. And yes, Cid is a little tiny baby boy in this, but just trust me on this, it will work, I promise.

Vincent Valentine was a Turk, and a damned good one. He was twenty seven, and he had a good career ahead of him. Love played no part in Vincent's life, not anymore. You see, for the past year he had been completely in love with a beautiful woman called Lucretia, and he had thought she loved him back. He had been wrong. He had discovered she had been having an affair, or rather, he had discovered that he was her affair. She had apparently been in a committed relationship with a Dr. Hojo for years now, and after a fight with him she had started her affair with Vincent. Vincent had found out by complete accident after arriving earlier than planned to meet her at the mansion in Nibelheim. He had never before felt so betrayed, and in that instant he had sworn off love.

But it was late, and as much as he would prefer to leave immediately, he was tired, and the idea of spending another night sleeping under the stars was not pleasant. So he made his way to the local inn, angry and disappointed. Yes, he would bury himself in his work, and live his live for it and it alone.

"Cidney please! He's only a baby! Please just let him go, please. I'll stay, I swear, just let him go!"

Vincent was reluctantly drawn to a halt when he heard those words, cried out over the wailing of a child, desperate and fearful. It brought back memories from his own childhood, his mother screaming at his father, begging him not to hurt her, while Vincent had curled deeper into bed, unable to help. That was one of the reasons he had joined the Turk's, to help people like his mother. So despite his tiredness, he forwent the lure of the inn, knowing he would be unable to sleep if he walked on leaving this poor woman and her child, and besides, perhaps it would be a good thing to work out some of his anger over Lucretia's betrayal.

He made his way to the closet window of the house the cries came from, a little concerned when he heard the child's cries die off abruptly. He looked in, taking stock quickly. A tall brunet man stood baring the front door, a small boy, who looked no older than two years, held tightly, one hand squeezing at the little throat. A much smaller blonde woman was on her knees, tears streaming down a bruised face.

"What the fuck makes you think I want you woman?" the man spat, seemingly unconcerned with how the child's movements were becoming sluggish in his grip.

"Oh god, Cidney please, he's your son, just let him go." The woman pleaded, her eyes fastened on her son.

The man spat out a bitter laugh. "This little bastard!" he demanded, finally letting go of the boy's neck and shaking him roughly. "Huh, if he really is my son like you say then I can do whatever the hell I want with him."

Vincent did not wait to see more, he moved around the small house until he reached the front door, he could still hear the desperate pleading of the woman, and the sounds of the mans abuse, but he tuned them out, and expertly picked the simple lock on the door. He made his entrance loudly, startling the man, who let the boy go, Vincent inwardly winched at the extra bruises the little one would have, but at least Cidney would no longer have a body to hide behind. Vincent pulled his gun and trained it between the mans eyes.

The man froze, his mouth open as if to say something, but it got lost when he had seen the gun, so Vincent spoke. "I think you should maybe get out of the lady's way if she wants to leave." He looked at the woman, who had gathered her son up and was staring at him in shock, but she seemed to gather her wits quickly and got shakily to her feet, lifting a bag that had been dropped to the floor beside her, and holding her son close she made her way to the door. Using the gun Vincent threatened the man into moving back a few steps, and allowed the woman to leave.

When she was outside Vincent turned smoothly and closed the door, and he never said another word, holstering his gun, turning back and sending a fist flying into the man, knocking him back and to the floor. An eye for an eye was a rather apt phrase for what Vincent dealt the man, before he too took his leave of the house.

He was surprised to find the woman hovering at the road, still cradling her son close, watching Vincent warily. Vincent studied her, she was not the prettiest of women, the bruises that marred her face made her almost ugly, but there was something in her eyes that made up for that. He glanced back at the house and back to her and asked. "Did you want to go back in there?"

Her eyes travelled over him, seizing him up, before she shook her head. "No."

Vincent remained where he was, wondering why he couldn't bring himself to move past her. "Have you anywhere to go?" he found himself asking, surprising himself.

She chewed her lip thoughtfully, still gazing at him with a look he couldn't exactly explain. "Junon." She replied quietly. "I have a sister there."

That was a long way to travel, alone with a child. Getting to Costa del Sol to catch the ship would be fraught with danger. Vincent frowned at himself, what on earth was he thinking. He only just met this woman, and already he was considering escorting her to her sisters. This was ridicules. Shaking his head he made his way past the woman, intending to leave the conversation at that, get a room at the inn and lament the loss of Lucretia, dwell on the hurt of that betrayal, swear off love once again, and leave in the morning for Midgar and Shinra headquarters.

"Will you at least tell me your name?" she called after him, and he paused, glancing back at her. Her little boy had unburied his head from her shoulder and was looking at him too, too big blue eyes blinking a little confused, and a little wary.

"Vincent Valentine." He responded, unthinkingly.

She smiled then, and it brightened her whole face, and despite the bruises she looked almost beautiful.

Vincent looked away, angry at himself. Here he was, freshly hurt by a woman and already he was looking at another. Not only that, but a woman who had obviously been given the wrong end of the stick. No, these thoughts would end now; he would not allow them to continue.

"I…" she stopped, and he turned his eyes back t her, to see her chewing her lip again, glancing back at the house she had left before squaring her shoulders and meeting his eyes determined. "Karen, Karen Highwind." And she nodded, pleased with herself. "And this is Cidney jr." she hefted the little boy up a little.

Cidney jr gave a grimace of distaste, and Vincent didn't blame him with a name like that. "Mama." He complained quietly, though the bog blue eyes never left Vincent.

Karen gave him a soft squeeze. "I know baby. We'll come up with a better name for you now, I promise."

Vincent knew then that he should move on, before he got any deeper into a problem that wasn't his. He had rescued the woman and her son from her abusive husband; he didn't have to do anything farther. He moved on a few steps, and heard the woman gather her things together and move also, but not in the direction of the inn.

Surely she didn't intend to leave the town tonight?

He stopped and looked back, tracking her movements in the dim light by her blonde hair. Yes, it did appear she was intending to leave tonight. Did she not know about the dangers out there? Vincent shook himself again. This wasn't his problem; he had already done more than enough. He had his own problems to worry about. But watching her move away from the safety the town presented he couldn't seem to stop himself.

"It isn't safe to travel at night!" he called after her.

She stopped and turned to look at him again, before smiling slightly. "I don't know what you did to Cidney, and I'm grateful you did anything at all, really, but we need to be far away from here by morning." The 'or we'll be caught and be made to go back' went unsaid, but was clear.

Vincent cleared his throat a little. "Well, if you wait for morning… I'm going back to Midgar. I can take you to Junon if you'd like."

Despite the darkness moving in on them he could see the surprise on her face. "Aren't you staying to see your lady friend?" she asked.

Vincent frowned, annoyed, did everyone in this town know what a fool he had been?

"I've seen you a few times in town. There are only two reasons a person comes here to visit, either you have family, or a lover." She explained, hurrying to cover any mistake she may have made.

"No." Vincent said slowly. "No family, nor lover. So, are you going to wait for morning?" he asked.

Cidney jr chose that moment to yawn widely. The silence stretched on for a long moment, and Vincent was almost convinced Karen Highwind was going to leave tonight anyway. But when she moved again it was towards him, and he waited for her to catch up before turning back towards the inn.


	2. Flying Free

Vincent had spent a restless night, but too his great surprise only a small part of it had to do with Lucretia. Yes, he had gone over how he could have been so much of a fool, how he could not have known what was going on, and was appropriately disgusted with himself. But a larger part of him was actually taken up with worrying, yes worrying about the hazards of travelling with a child in tow. After all, being attacked was dangerous, everyone knew how to fight off the creatures that lurked in the countryside, you learned or you died, so he was reasonably certain that Karen could probably fight if required, but the boy; that would be difficult.

He was up early, and resigned himself to wait for Karen and her son to wake much later. While he would prefer to leave immediately, there was actually no rush, he had taken two weeks off to spend here with Lucretia, so leaving a little later would make no difference. But he didn't really want to stay any longer than he needed to.

He was surprised however to find the blonde woman and her son sitting in the most shadowed corner of the inns eatery, the bruises had faded some, but a new one, delivered last night most likely was blooming sickly on her cheek. The boy looked marginally better, but the dark coloured marks around his neck stood out sharply. He made his way over and took a seat; the boy startled a little, but settled when he saw it was Vincent and not his father.

"We've already eaten." Karen told him, stroking her son's hair.

"You're lying." Vincent stated, and saw her winch a little. With an inward sigh he motioned over the serving girl, ordering three breakfasts. When the girl moved away he turned back to look, but was arrested by the look of awe and wonder in the little boys face, he met his blue eyes squarely and waited for the characteristic bowing of the head and look of wary fear that tended to cross young children's faces when an adult looked too long and too hard.

All the boy did was blink and scramble to his feet on the chair until more than his head could be seen over the tabletop and stuck out a hand. "I'm Cid." He said, his voice raspy thanks to the bruises.

Vincent couldn't stop the slight smirking smile that lifted a corner of his mouth at the sight. This was an interesting child. He took the hand and shook it gently yet firmly. "Pleasure Cid, I'm Vincent." He held the boys gaze for a long time, wondering just what he was searching for in his eyes.

Finally Cid smiled and sat back down. "I know, Mama said you were the one who stopped Papa hurting us. I can't 'member much cause I was really tired, and my neck hurts, see?" he pulled down his collar to show Vincent the marks more clearly. "Mama said I didn't hafta be called Cidney no more. That's good," he said it so earnestly, "because I never did like it, so I got to pick my own name, and I picked Cid. Cid's a cool name; don't you think so Mr. Vincent?"

Vincent shot a glance over to Karen, who was hiding a smile behind her hand before looking back at Cid. "Yes, Cid is a very 'cool' name." he responded, a little bewildered.

"Mama say's your gonna take us to see Auntie May. She lives over the sea you know. We have to get a boat to go there. I never seen the sea before. Have you Mr. Vincent?" It took a moment for Vincent to realise he was actually supposed to answer that, so he nodded. It seemed more than enough response for Cid though and he continued. "Wow, is it nice? Mama told me it's really big, and has lots of fishes in it, have you ever seen the fishes in it? I saw a picture of one; do they look lie they do in the pictures?"

Vincent blinked, but was saved from answering, and potentially spurring the boy on further, by the food arriving. Karen quickly quietened her son and set him to eating. He stood on the chair again while he did.

"Sorry." She apologised. "He's never usually so talkative. Not that I blame him really, normally it's just me, his father wasn't exactly the talking type."

Vincent ignored the apology, weren't all little children supposed to talk too much? Instead he lifted the fork that had been left beside his plate and pointed it at hers. "You might want to eat that, it's going to be a long journey."

She blushed and looked down. Vincent noted that Cid had stopped eating too, waiting for something. "I can't pay you back; I only have enough for the passage to Junon."

Vincent was silent, frowning slightly at her downcast face. "Eat." He told her, and started eating himself.

He bought some extra supplies from the early morning vendors before leaving town. Finding that he felt somewhat responsible for the two now, and he had only known them a handful of hours at most. The further they got from the town he noticed that Karen seemed to open up, playing eye spy with Cid, who clung to her shoulders, supported on her back with a piece of cloth. Vincent had wordlessly slowed his pace when Cid had expressed a desire to walk as well, reminding himself that he had two weeks to get back, but the two to three day journey to Costa del Sol was looking to take about a week of that time.

Surprisingly he found he didn't mind, having company was an interesting change for him on this journey. He kept a watchful eye out for any creature likely to attack, but their first day passed without incident.

When Cid had taken it into his head to search the tall grass on either side of the path for interesting small bugs, Vincent found himself walking beside Karen with very little to say. She seemed to share his awkward silence. Usually he found silence a welcome companion, but for some reason right now it seemed like an enemy.

"Why did you stay so long?" he asked suddenly, eyes widening fractionally when he realised just what he had asked. He had often wondered why his mother had stayed so long with his father, but he had learned quickly that such questions would be met by either stony silence or hysterical tears, and he really didn't think he could handle the woman if she started crying.

Karen looked at him, surprised, but she didn't look as if she was about to burst into tears, or ignore his question. She shrugged slightly. "It just sort of happened." She told him.

"Happened?" Vincent asked, raising an eyebrow.

Karen laughed a little, and Vincent found it a little amazing how much she had changed as the miles grew between her and her old life, she didn't seem afraid of him like most women who were abused were of men, in fact, he recalled she had not been afraid for herself last night either, only for her son.

"He was fine up until Cid was born. And when he was woken up one to many times during the night he just seemed to lose it."

"So you stayed?" Vincent asked, sensing she was a lot stronger than that. "You didn't honestly think it would stop did you?"

She shook her head. "No, I never expected it to. I've been trying for almost two years to get out of that house, but he always seemed to be one step ahead of me, and he threatened Cid. I would not have preferred getting out alive if it meant my son was killed for it."

Vincent nodded, not really understanding, but he considered that perhaps it was his Turk training that had driven that out of him; sometimes it was just necessary for someone to die for someone else to live. Granted even he balked a little at the idea of living ff the death of an innocent child, but obviously it was just the type of person Karen was.

They continued on in silence, but it was a somewhat more companionable one now, broken only when Cid returned to them to show off what he had found.


	3. Nightmare Wings

The sky was dark and it was close to midnight, but Vincent found himself unable to sleep, instead his eyes followed the patterns of the stars and he. In fact, for the past two nights of travelling he had been unable to sleep. His senses, so finely attuned to the area around him startled him awake at the slightest sound that could signify danger. Unfortunately this, while being a wonderful way of keeping himself alive, did have its downfalls when the small whimpering from the other side of camp filtered over to him.

It was only quiet sounds, and when he had looked across he had noticed Cid squirming under his mothers arm, making those small fearful sounds. He was sound asleep, and the noises didn't seem to wake his mother, but it left Vincent awake and watchful. But after midnight the boy seemed to settle and the whimpering stopped.

So Vincent lay awake, letting his mind wander a little, letting memories of Lucretia flit through his thoughts, he tried not to think of her during the day. He remembered her laugh, the way she felt when they made love (though he now realised it had only been sex to her), he remembered how beautiful she looked, and how much he had loved her; and he cursed himself for a fool again. How could he have let himself be tricked like that, all those years of being a Turk, of relying on his instincts, on his observational skills to stay alive, why couldn't they have translated over into this? He should have known; looking back it was so obvious.

He stifled a sigh and closed his eyes tightly, trying to push his thoughts away, every day they travelled brought danger, and he could not afford to be killed, or allow Karen and Cid to be killed, merely because he was not well rested.

His forehead smoothed out as he opened his eyes. That was another thing; when, and how had the woman and her son come to mean enough to him that he considered their safety a priority? Even Lucretia had not reached that stage for him until almost a month into their relationship.

And he was back to Lucretia.

He sighed again, then stiffened when he heard the sound of something moving. He lay still, waiting, noting that the whimpers had stopped. It was a small thing that approached him, and he listened carefully, keeping his eyes fixed on the stars overhead as he tried to determine just what it was. With any luck it was just some small scavenger he could startle off just by sitting up. With this plan in mind, he sat up.

The small figure did startle, and flinch back a step or two before stopping, blinking huge almost black eyes at him, a small blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

"Cid?" he asked, wondering what the boy was doing up.

The boy didn't move for a long moment, and Vincent was about to speak again when in a small shaky voice Cid asked. "Mr. Vincent?" it was so unsure, that Vincent almost slapped himself for scaring the boy.

"Yes. Why are you up Cid?" he asked, gentling his voice, knowing the boy couldn't see him very well in the dark.

"Had a dream." Cid told him quietly.

"Well, it's over now, go back to sleep." Vincent wondered after he said it, if maybe he was being too cold. But really, how was he supposed to respond to that?

Cid's head turned until he could see his mothers outline in the dark before he looked back at Vincent. "Can I sleep with you?" he asked.

Vincent was dumbfounded by that request, and wasn't quite sure how to respond. Finally he did manage to say, in what he hoped was a way that wouldn't frighten Cid or remind him of his father, because Vincent found, much to his surprise, that he didn't want the boy to be afraid of him, or think bad of him. "Sleep with your mother."

"I can't." Cid told him, sounding sort of lost. "I hurt her."

Vincent blinked then, staring at the boy in shock. "Hurt her?" he asked, casting his eyes towards Karen, to see that her eyes were open, the faint light of the stars shining there as she watched them.

Cid nodded. "In my dream."

"In your dream?" Vincent repeated, bewildered.

"Yes. So I can't sleep with Mama, so can I sleep with you?"

"But it was only a dream." Vincent said, not too inclined to have the little boy snuggling up beside him in that awful way he had seen children sleep with their parents in pictures, never mind that he had yet to see the boy actual snuggle up to his own mother.

Cid's whole frame seemed to crumble, and Vincent could see Karen move as if to get up and get her son, when Cid spoke again, his voice even smaller than before, almost a heartbreaking sound. "But what if I do hurt her? I won't mean to!" he tried to defend miserably. "But what if I do it inaten… unatally?..." he gave up on the big word and continued on. "I don't wanna be like Papa. Please can I sleep with you?"

Vincent found himself chewing the inside of his lip, a habit he had long grown out of. He could remember a time when he too had been afraid of turning out like his father, a cold unfeeling man who ignored his only son to the point he did not even seem to exist, and beat a wife who couldn't fight back. Hating the idea, and the memory of his father, that he would turn his back on the boy just because he didn't happen to like what he had asked, Vincent reached a decision. He glanced across the camp to Karen, who he could feel was watching him closely, half hoping she would object and save him from this, but knowing she probably wouldn't, Cid was afraid to sleep next to her, and for some reason Vincent still could not quite fathom, she trusted him. Trusted him enough to let the son she had stayed with an abusive man for, sleep with him.

"Ok, but just tonight, ok."

Cid nodded eagerly and edged closer. Vincent moved aside on his sleeping mat to give him enough space to lie down, and Cid did just that, curling up into a small ball and pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders. Not questioning his actions anymore, knowing it probably wouldn't do any good, Vincent dropped some of his own blanket over Cid before closing his eyes and willing sleep to come soon.

The next morning the dream seemed to be forgotten by Cid, who was just as energetic as normal, and had run to a small berry bush not far away, and in clear site of the adults' to fetch some things for breakfast.

"Thank you." Karen said quietly as she stowed her things away.

Vincent looked over at her and shrugged, not truly knowing what to say, so deciding to say nothing. He would have expected her to continue, perhaps talking about other such nights, like his mother had once tended to do, unable to stop herself talking about horrific or sad moments, as if talking about tem over and over made it easier to deal with, but instead just made her more and more tense and liable to crack. But one thing Vincent had learned about Karen since he had met her was that she was nothing like his mother. She seemed perfectly content to say what she meant and never elaborated past that, like it was a waste of time to if you didn't understand what she had meant the first time.

Cid it seemed had gotten a little distracted by a butterfly while at the bush, and was chasing its little fleeting form, hands grasping for it. Karen laughed when she saw him, shaking her head. Vincent shot her a quick look, complete with a raised eyebrow, not really understanding what was so amusing about this.

"He wants to fly, has since I explained what flying was." She explained, smiling.

Vincent cocked his head a little, curious. "And what is it?"

She blinked and looked at him, as if surprised that he didn't seem to know. "Freedom of course."

Vincent took her word for it, flying meant little to him. But watching Cid chase the butterfly, and seeing Karen smiling, the oldest bruises now faded to a faint outline on her skin, he decided that it depended on the person you were, what you considered freedom. And for Karen and her son, the sky seemed to fit.


	4. Sea Flight

Costa del Sol was a lively place, everyone was smiling and generally happy. Women walked by scantily dressed, men did the same (but for Vincent that was a matter best left untouched). But to Vincents surprise, the cheerful outlook in this little seaside town was nothing compared to the look of absolute wonder that appeared on Cid's face when he first saw the ocean, nothing held a candle to the energy that infused the child as he took off, pointing at everything, touching everything he could reach, chasing the seagulls (with which he had an absolute fascination).

Vincent watched, and found himself smiling far more than was normal for him. he was a serious man, and had been a serious youth, but seeing Cid so happy, so filled with wonder, made him smile. Seeing Karen so relaxed and obviously happy, her features now free from the discolouration of the bruises, only the faintest outlines remaining, made him content, and he couldn't figure out why, nor did he find he really wanted too.

The ship was scheduled to leave in the afternoon, they had been lucky in their arrival, it was a four day all round trip across the sea to the Eastern Continent, and had they arrived too late they would have to wait four days for the next sailing. He had, ignoring all arguments to the contrary, offered to buy lunch before they sailed, and when Karen had refused, claiming he had already done too much for them already, he had asked Cid, and was pleased When Cid had nodded happily in response.

"That was unfair." Karen told him with a mock glare that hid a slightly anxious expression, she wasn't the type of person who liked to take without giving back, Vincent realised that, but it was against his nature to tell her just what she and her son had given him over these past days. Never in all his years had he felt quite so content, even though Cid kept him awake most of the night with his nightmares, or made his heart clench when he heard a squeal, only to be assured a few seconds later that it was only because the boy had found something amazing to show them. Karen was a wonderful conversationalist, and didn't seem to mind if he didn't speak, she simply spoke on through his silences, not minding that he never responded, though he had never stopped listening.

While in their company he never really thought of Lucretia; oh, she plaugued his thoughts late at night, or in dreams, he prescenece was there, but that was all. When he had realised everything was not as it seemed with her, he had expected to find himself thinking on her constantly, to continue to feel like a fool, to never want to so much as look at another woman again.

And yet, he couldn't stop seeming to look at Karen, and he wasn't sure if that was simply because she made him feel somehow better about everything, or if he wanted to lay with her. He would prefer the former over the latter, because he had started to respect her over their travels, and he did not want to hurt her by sleeping with her and never seeing her again. He didn't want that. He didn't want what he had had with Lucretia with her either but... He hid a sigh and realised he should have replied already, so he swept Cid up into his arms, the boy giggling the whole way, and smiled slightly at Karen.

"Are you really going to say no?" he asked mildly.

Her lips twitched into an exasperated smile. "Not now that you've promised him food."

Vincent let Cid pick the place to eat.

Once they were seated and served conversation had dwindled to a companionable silence, Vincent watched the patrons, watching their movements, who they spoke too, if they seemed suspicious, who was carrying a weapon, and if they were a threat. It was merely the paranoia instilled in all Turks, but it had saved his life more than once. It was unlikely that they would be attacked, but if just one of the travellers here had met him on the wrong side of his gun then bad blood was likely, and Vincent didn't really want to drag Karen and Cid into it.

He turned his attention back to his table compainions and hid a small laugh behind his hand when he saw Cid's failed attempt at eating the mild fajita he had demanded to have. with the amount of sauce on his face, Vincent was sure there was none in the roll. "Oh Cid!" Karen lamented, but when Vincent looked at her face he saw she was just as amused as he was. After Cid had been cleaned up as much as possible, much to the boys annoyance, the two began a strange game, to Vincents view anyway, stealing pieces of salad, or meat from each others plates. Vincent watched them, eating his own food undisturbed; until a tiny hand snagged one of his chips, so fast he nearly missed it.

He blinked in surprise and looked at Cid, who grinned at him, munching at the chip. In the corner of his eye he could see Karen tensing, this was obviously something Cid had done to his father once and the result hadn't been good. He reached over and ruffled Cid's hair. "Nice work Cid, I almost didn't see you do it." he congratulated, and as far as he was concerned it was to be, Vincent should have seen it coming a mile off. He saw Karen relax and Cid's smile got wider at the praise.

They made it to the boat with time to spare. In two days they would reach Junon, but Vincent found himself shying away from this face. In two days he would be on his own again, the way it was supposed to be. He deliberately pushed these thoughts aside, not wanted to dwell on them any longer. Instead he went in search of Karen, who had left him and Cid standing by a particularly brave flock of seagulls that had landed near the front of the boat. He found her at the very back of the ship, staring back at Costa del Sol. He wove his way through the crowd, Cid clinging to the back of his trousers, wary of the large amount of people on board. Vincent was glad the boy was doing so, he didn't think Karen would be too pleased with him if he managed to lose her son, and he didn't particularly relish the idea of searching the ship for a small child.

"You miss it?" he ased, leaning against the railing and looking at her sideways.

She shook hr head. "No, but I expected it to e... well, you have to admit this is kind of anti-climatic. Not that I wanted to have a blow up on the dock with Cidney, but it just feels to easy. Like it's not really happening, if you understand." she gave a wry smile as she spoke.

Vincent ooked out at the lnd they were leaving behind, they were both leaving bad memories behind. He understood.

"When we get to Junon, will you be going directly to Midgar?" she asked.

Vincent didn't look at er, not wanting to see her face, not wanting to know what she wanted him to say. He nodded sharply, once, and she didn't push. They stood in silence, watching the land grow smaller as they moved away, until finally Cid became bored, and demanded they played with him. So Vincent found himself involved in his first game of tag since he was six years old. And as he played and looked at Karen and Cid, he was shocked to find that he didn't want to just leave them in Junon, he didn't want to leave them at all.

How the hell had this happened?


	5. To Roost

Junon had loomed close all morning, and as they drew ever close Vincent felt inexplicably disappointed, he had known it wasn't possible for them to somehow become shipwrecked on some small uncharted island, but that didn't stop him from thinking about it in a rather irrational moment. He was standing next to Karen, deliberately facing away from the approaching city, as if that alone could prolong the time. Karen held Cid as he sat on the topmost railing, pointing at Junon and asking questions a mile a minute. He wanted to know what it was like, who lived there, what his Aunt was like, if she was married, were their other children to talk to and play with, would he like it there, where there birds, and would he get to learn how to swim?

Vincent was unwillingingly drawn back into the memory of his mothers flight from his father. It had not been a long journey, but she had bundled him up, handed him a bag of possessions that weren't his, and he had left all his vestiages of childhood behind him as they made their way silently through the darkened streets of Midgar to the house of a friend of his mothers. He had asked no questions, had done as he was told when he was told, and he did it silently.

He wondered if his mother had perhaps been more like Karen would he have turned out differently? Had she been able to give her emotions freely, leave her past behind her, would he perhaps have been able to say something right now. Ask them to perhaps come with him to Midgar, or ask to maybe stay with them here. Just for a while, a week at most, until he was due back at work. Would he be able to do anything but leave them in Junon and continue on alone?

He stood quietly, listening to Cid's questions, Karen's answers, and he wished he could bring himself to speak.

They had docked and disembarked, and Vincent continue to walk with them, claiming (though he was never asked) that he would see them to Karen's sister before leaving. He never said it aloud, but it was his excuse, anything else was heading into uncharted territory and he didn't think he could ever bring himself to do what he had to do and leave.

He hated to think that when he left them he would never see them again, though it was very likely that was what would happen.

They reached the sisters faster than he had hoped.

There was a welcome unlike any Vincent had seen before between the sisters, filled with hugging and sarcastic comments, the likes of which Vincent found quite funny. Cid was swept up into it also, and seemed to be a little flustered with all the attention his aunt was bestowing on him. Then Karen's sister's eyes turned to him, and narrowed.

"Whose this?" she asked.

Karen rolled her eyes. "This is Vincent Valentine, May, he was nice enough to escort us here."

"Off the boat, awful nice of him indeed." she looked at him suspiciously, and Vincent was a little unsure over what to do, May was hardly hsi enemy, so killing her for looking at him like that wouldn't perhaps be the best option he could take.

"No May, from there." she emphasised, and May's eyes widened a little.

"Well, that's entirely different. Do you want so dinner?" she asked him.

Vincent blinked, bewildered by the sudden change in attitude, and looked to Karen for some sort of explanation. she shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, she's a little over-protective. She never did like the idea of me marrying Cidney, and I guess she was right." her lips twitched into a self deprecating smile. "She'll never let me live this down you know."

May leveled a glare then at her sister. "I'm standing right here Karen. You, do you want to stay or not?" she raised an eyebrow, pulling a pack of cigarettes from a pocket in her skirt and lighting it. She held Vincents gaze squarely and he wanted to nod. He wanted to stay here, spend some more time with Karen and Cid. But he shook his head slowly.

"I'd best be getting back to Midgar." he told them.

He saw that Cid's face immediately fall, and his lips formed a pout. "But Mr. Vincent--" he began, but Karen cut him off, smiling at Vincent, almost as if she could see through him and knew he wasn't really saying what he meant. But she never called him on it.

"Now Cid, I'm sure Vincent is a very busy man, but I'm sure if you asked nicely he might just write you some letters, and maybe, when he's not working, he might be able to visit." She looked at him, daring him to say he wouldn't. Not because she wanted him to do something he didn't want to do, but because she knew this was exactly what he needed, a good enough excuse that didn't rely on him searching his feelings. He could act the way his instinct told him (which was to indeed write and visit as often as he could manage) with worrying about why he was doing it.

Hell, that didn't even make sense to himself, but he was going to grasp at whatever straw was offered to him.

"Will you write, and come visit Mr. Vincent?" Cid asked.

May snorted and Karen glared at her, but Vincent didn't even begin to try to interpret, knowing it was best left alone. "I'll try my best Cid." he promised.

Cid's face scrunched up, and he looked as if he were about to burst into tears, but he just studied Vincents face as he had down when they had been formally introduced, before nodding. "'K." the little boy sniffed.

Karen smiled. "Thank you." she said, and Vincent knew she meant for everything, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her to keep her thanks, it had been re-payed over and over so many times from they had met.

"Your welcome." he said stiffly.

Everyone stood, at something of a stalemate. Because Vincent didn't want to go, and Karen and Cid didn't want to say goodbye. So they stood in something of a quandary, until May had obviously had enough, and crushing her now spent cigarette on the ground she said loudly. "Enough standing, dinner, inside, now." she startled them all and they all looked at her. "That includes you Vincent Valentine. In." she pointed inside the House and Vincent surprised himself by complying.

Dinner passed pleasantly, Karen and May bounced off each other in such a brash was that Vincent could seem to help finding amusing, though his eyes stayed mostly on Karen. While the sisters traded life stories, he and Cid had started a food stealing mini war against each other, which Vincent deliberately let the child win, only to end up blushing when he found Karen struggling to hide a laugh and realised how childish he must seem.

He left afterwards, a little lighter of heart, followed by waves and calls of "You have to remember to write!" from Karen, and "Visit! With presents!" from Cid. As he turned towards Midgar, leaving Junon behind, he was sad, because though he would try and write as often as he could, and would try to visit (after all, Cid was expecting a present now and Vincent wanted to deliver), he knew that it would be far too long, and he would miss them.

He hadn't felt sad of Lucretia, not really. Betrayed most definately. Which was better? He didn't know, but he was glad to have the memories of Karen and Cid and their journey here. As he reached the road his mind turned to composing his first letter to them. He would write it when he reached Midgar, and he would not question the instinct that made him chose to do it. He would see them again, soon.


End file.
